Sports Coaching

Learn to be a better sports coach - amateur or professional.

Course Code: VRE109
Fee Code: S3
Duration (approx) Duration (approx) 100 hours
Qualification Statement of Attainment
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Learn to be a Sporting Coach

Being a sports coach will mean working not only with athletes or teams, but with other specialist individuals involved such as psychologists, manager, trainers and so on. It is important therefore that a sports coach has both some understanding of these areas and the roles that such individuals perform, as well as being able to integrate their services within a supporting “team”.

Beyond any athlete or a team of athletes, there is a coaching and support network which looks after them. To be successful in their roles and to ensure the successful development of the athlete or team, the supporting individuals need to be able to complement and dovetail into each other’s services in order to provide solid support. 

This course helps you to understand what it is to be a sports coach and how to better approach and undertake the many and varied tasks that a sports coach must undertake.

Lesson Structure

There are 11 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction to Sports Coaching
    • What Do We Mean by Sports Coaching?
    • Focus on Sports Coach
    • Sports Coaching Skills and Roles
  2. Professional Standards and Communication in Sports Coaching
    • Ethics in sports coaching
    • Example Code of Ethics
    • Confidentiality
    • Professional Standards in Sports Coaching
    • Good communication with athletes and other sporting professionals
  3. The Coach-Athlete Relationship
    • The relationship between the coach and athlete
    • The 3 + 1Cs Model
    • Other Relationship Models
    • A Two-Way Road
    • Coaching Skills
  4. Training Roles of the Coach and Athlete
    • The Three Stages of Athlete Learning
    • Types of coaching ROLES
    • Autocratic Coaching – teacher and dictator
    • Democratic Coaching – involving
    • Laissez-faire
    • Holistic Coaching – the global approach
    • Which Style is For You?
    • Blended Coaching – the dynamic approach
  5. Motivation
    • What is Motivation?
    • Needs Hierarchy
    • Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation
    • Incentives and Rewards
    • Fear as a Motivator
    • How to Motivate Sports People
    • Motivating Through Purpose
    • Offering Autonomy and Support
    • Using Visualisations
    • Case Study
  6. Coaching Individuals
    • Sports that are played by individuals
    • Coaching Skills with the Individual
    • Social Facilitation & the Individual
    • Case studies of coaching working with individuals
  7. Coaching Teams
    • Sports that are played by teams
    • Building Teams
    • Team Dynamics
    • Creating Team Leaders
    • Motivating Teams
    • Social Facilitation & Teams
    • Coaching skills with the team
    • Case studies of sports people in team sports
    • Case Studies of Coaching Working with Team
  8. The Athletic Identity
    • What is the athletic identity?
    • Social Identity Theory
    • Importance of the Athletic Identity
    • Problems with Athletic Identity
    • How a Sports Coach Can Help
    • The Stages of Grieving
    • How does this relate to the sports person?
  9. Children and Parents in Sport
    • Ethical Issues Working with Children
    • How coaching children differs to coaching adults
    • Sports that involve children
    • Coaching Style
    • Psychological issues when children are involved in sport
    • Encouraging Children to Take Up Sports
  10. Amateur Vs Elite Vs Professional Sports Coaching
    • Amateur vs. Professional
    • Case Study
    • Money
  11. Maintaining Your Motivation as a Coach
    • A Recap on Motivation
    • Positive Thinking
    • Staying Focused
    • Staying Engaged
    • How to Deal with Disappointment
    • Maintaining Your Personal Development and Training in Coaching
    • Avoiding Stress and Burnout

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

  • To explain the role of the sports coach.
  • To explain professional standards and codes of ethics applicable to sports coaching.
  • To explain and define what constitutes the coach-athlete relationship.
  • To explain the roles adopted each by the coach and the athlete.
  • Explain mechanisms which underlie motivation in sport and apply them to motivational strategies.
  • Understand how to work with individual athletes, and methods of coaching them to be successful.
  • To understand team dynamics and methods of coaching teams to be successful.
  • To explain the athletic identity and its significance in sports coaching.
  • Explain important elements of sports coaching for children.
  • Consider the differences between amateur, elite and professional sports coaching.
  • Explain different ways a sports coach can maintain motivation in their role.

SPORTS COACHES NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO MOTIVATE ATHLETES

The job of a sports coach is to encourage participation in sports and to help improve the performance of individual athletes and teams. They may work with children and the disabled, as well as professional and amateur athletes. Some coaches work part-time or as volunteers, some are self-employed, whereas others are full time employees of sports clubs. Coaches not only have relationships with the athletes themselves, but often other family members, administrators of sports teams or clubs, other related professionals like sports psychologists, nutritionists and doctors, and in some cases fans and fan clubs. 

Sports coaching can therefore be a very demanding position which takes a lot of effort on the part of the coach to help their clients succeed and remain focused, whilst also dealing with the needs and requests of others. 

Whereas in its formative years sports coaching was very much focused on success and failure of athletes or teams, as a profession it has evolved to give more emphasis to relationships with athletes and their development. So, coaching is concerned with more than performance. Development extends to development of athletes as all-round people and of teams as groups with a common purpose.   

Sports coaches have to be knowledgeable about their area of coaching but they don’t necessarily have to have excelled in their preferred sport to make an excellent coach.  In fact, most coaches probably did not reach the top of their field as an athlete, and only very few of those that did go on to make successful coaches. 

Coaches develop training programs with athletes. They have to be able to help athletes develop new skills and to monitor and evaluate their progress. They also make projections about performance and set goals. To get athletes on board, a coach has to nurture a positive learning environment. This means finding effective ways to help athletes absorb information as well as creating activities which generate improvements in results. A range of techniques can be used to achieve this. 

Coaches, like many other professionals, offer a service which is designed to benefit a client. The onus is on the coach to continually strive to improve their skills and techniques in order to offer as good a service as they can to their clients.    

Coaches are professionals and need to be aware of, and work to maintain, certain standards in consideration of those they are responsible to, such as:

  • The athletes they are coaching.
  • The company, leisure centre, or school they are working for.
  • Staff or colleagues at their place of employment or the venue they are working for.
  • The sport(s) they represent.
 
ACS is an Organisational Member of the Association for Coaching (UK).
ACS is an Organisational Member of the Association for Coaching (UK).
ACS is a Member of the Complementary Medicine Association.
ACS is a Member of the Complementary Medicine Association.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
 Principal John Mason is a member of the ANZMH. ACS Students are invited to join
Principal John Mason is a member of the ANZMH. ACS Students are invited to join
Principal John Mason has been honoured to be awarded a Fellow of Parks and Leisure Australia, having been an active member since 1974.
Principal John Mason has been honoured to be awarded a Fellow of Parks and Leisure Australia, having been an active member since 1974.
UK Register of Learning Providers, UK PRN10000112
UK Register of Learning Providers, UK PRN10000112

How can I start this course?

You can enrol at anytime and start the course when you are ready. Enrolments are accepted all year - students can commence study at any time. All study is self paced and ACS does not set assignment deadlines.

Please note that if a student is being assisted by someone else (e.g. an employer or government subsidy), the body offering the assistance may set deadlines. Students in such situations are advised to check with their sponsor prior to enrolling. The nominal duration of a course is approximately how long a course takes to complete. A course with a nominal duration of 100 hours is expected to take roughly 100 hours of study time to complete. However, this will vary from student to student. Short courses (eg. 100 hrs duration) should be completed within 12 months of enrolment. Certificates, Advanced Certificates and Awards (eg. over 500 hours duration) would normally be completed within 3 -5 years of enrolment. Additional fees may apply if a student requires an extended period to complete.
If a student cannot submit their assignments for 6 months to ACS, they should advise the school to avoid cancellation of their student
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Our courses are written in English and we only have English speaking academic staff. If you can read and complete your assignments in English, our courses are ideal for you.

Our courses are designed to build knowledge, hands on skills and industry connections to help prepare you to work in the area, running your own business, professional development or as a base for further study.

This course has been designed to cover the fundamentals of the topic. It will take around 100 hours to complete, which includes your course reading, assignment work, research, practical tasks, watching videos and anything else that is contained in the course. Our short courses are a great way to do some professional development or to learn a new skill.

It’s up to you. The study hours listed in the course are a rough guide, however if you were to study a short course (100 hours) at 10 hours per week, you could finish the course in 10 weeks (just an example). Our courses are self-paced, so you can work through the courses in your own time. We recommend that you wait for your tutor to mark and return your assignment before your start your next one, so you get the benefits of their feedback.

The course consists of course notes, videos, set tasks for your practical work, online quizzes, an assignment for each lesson (that you receive feedback from your tutor from) and ends in an exam (which is optional, if would like to receive the formal award at the end), using our custom built Learning Management System - Login.Training.

Our courses are designed for adults to gain professional development and skills to further their careers and start businesses.

Our custom online learning portal allows you to conduct your learning online. There may be practical tasks that you can do offline. You have the option of downloading your course notes or print them to read later.

There is also the option to pay an additional fee for printed course notes and or USB (availability limited to location and deliverability).

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We offer printed notes for an additional fee. Also, you can request your course notes on a USB stick for an additional fee.

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We are more learning focussed, rather than assessment focussed. You have online quizzes to test your learning, written assignments and can complete an exam at the end of the course (if you want to receive your certificate). You will not receive a pass/ fail on your course work. If you need to add more details on your assignment, we will ask you to resubmit and direct you where you need to focus. If you need help, you can ask your tutor for advice in the student room.

Each module (short course) is completed with one exam.

Exams are optional, however you must sit an exam if you would like to receive a formal award. You will need to find someone who can supervise that you are sitting the exams under exams conditions. There is an additional cost of $60 incl. GST for each exam.
More information is here

There are practical components built into the course that have been designed to be achieved by anyone, anywhere. If you are unable to complete a task for any reason, you can ask your tutor for an alternative.

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You can bundle the short courses to create your own customised learning bundle, Certificates or Advanced Certificates. More information is on this page.

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Course Contributors

The following academics were involved in the development and/or updating of this course.

Jade Sciascia

Biologist, Business Coordinator, Government Environmental Dept, Secondary School teacher (Biology); Recruitment Consultant, Senior Supervisor in Youth Welfare, Horse Riding Instructor (part-completed) and Boarding Kennel Manager.
Jade has a B.Sc.Biol, Dip.Professional Education, Cert IV TESOL, Cert Food Hygiene.

Kieran McCartney

MA Dist.Ed, MSc Sport Sciences, BA, Dip Mgt

Lyn Quirk

M.Prof.Ed.; Adv.Dip.Compl.Med (Naturopathy); Adv.Dip.Sports Therapy
Over 30 years as Health Club Manager, Fitness Professional, Teacher, Coach and Business manager in health, fitness and leisure industries. As business owner and former department head for TAFE, she brings a wealth of skills and experience to her role as a tutor for ACS.

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